Usually, if you play video games for over 100 hours straight, people call you an addict, and ship you off to a rehab center. But for the past three years, three guys from Indiana have gotten away with just such an event (without being institutionalized) -- all in the name of charity. Once a year, Brian Brinegar, John Groth and Chris Deckard take up residence in front of a TV, and play through every Mario game they can find in order to raise funds for Child's Play, a group that sends video games, movies and toys to children in hospitals around the country. The event is even streamed live on USTREAM (in case you're the type that considers video games a spectator sport).

This year, the three charitable gaming junkies behind the Mario Marathon played for well over 100 hours, and managed to raise an impressive $81,310. What's more impressive is how the event has grown. Each year, it has more than doubled the amount raised the year prior, and has become a "Platinum Sponsor" of Child's Play -- an honor reserved only for the highest donors, like PopCap and Amazon. Perhaps next year, they can double the amount raised, and the charity will have to create a new level of sponsorship just for the Mario-mad miracle workers. [From: Mario Marathon, via: Fidgit]